5 April - Licola on Beemer

Took the Beemer for a quick run to Licola at about noon. Despite early cloud, the afternoon turned into a brilliant day for riding. Unlike previous trips the road was full of holiday makers getting an early start for Easter. The caravan parks and camping grounds along the McAllister river were filling up rapidly and even Licola was quite busy. The BMW just ate up the hills - everything is effortless on this bike, even potholes and bumps in the road don't seem to bother it much. Also tried it out on some dirt roads and that's definitely an area for skill development. Once I find a suitable one I'll probably do an 'off-road' riding course.

Total Distance 190 km.

1 April - Walhalla and Beyond

After bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast this morning, and a couple of odd jobs, it occurred to me that I really needed more time on the Beemer. Zane joined me on his KLX for a quick ride, and a coffee, to Walhalla. Riding the F650GS is quite a thrill. It is such an agile and powerful machine that it almost seems that in order to do something, you just need to 'think' it. It has a great number of features (such as ABS brakes for example) but the one that I have found most useful so far is auto cancelling indicators. One of my most consistent failings on bikes to date has been to forget to turn off the blinkers. Anyway, we reached Walhalla in short order and in no time we were enjoying our cafe lattes. The weather was still OK at this stage so we decided to take a run to the Thomson Dam wall. From there to Rawson for fuel for the KLX and then on to Trafalgar via Willow Grove. At this stage my fuel gauge was still showing one third full - after some 350km - but I thought it prudent to fill it anyway.

From Trafalgar we headed up the hill to Thorpdale before finally turning towards home via Yinnar. The Beemer and I are starting to develop a working relationship.

Total Distance 220 km.

31 March - Southbank and home via the Dandenongs

Caught the 07:19 train down to Melbourne this morning to pick up my new purchase. By about 10:15 all the paperwork was completed and I had finished a quick rundown of the features of the BMW (enough to ride it home anyway) and I was on my way to show it off to Marcus who lives about 5 minutes away. By the time I reached Port Melbourne the weather was looking discouraging - strong winds and ominous clouds, and so I left quickly to try and beat the weather home. However by the time I got on to the Monash Freeway things started to look up and so I decided to take the Ferntree Gully Road and head toward the Dandenongs. By then I was starting to feel quite at home on the Beemer and the prospect of trying it out on the mountain roads was quite appealing.

Quickly passed through Sassafras, Olinda, Montrose and Lilydale and in almost no time I was in Warburton for lunch at Three Sugars. Riding through the hills provided quite a lot of protection from the winds and this continued on the ride home via Yarra Junction, Powelltown, Noojee etc. Got home at around 4pm feeling quite at home now on this bike. Very impressed with this machine. It takes everything in its stride and the 800cc engine provides great power under all conditions - what a blast.
So, now the next task is to get RWC's for the Honda and the Kawasaki and sell them. The BMW handles both long range touring and off road adventures superbly and so the other bikes will have to go. I've enjoyed them both immensely and I hope they provide as much pleasure to the next owner(s).

Total Distance 230 km.

29-30 March Port Melbourne and Carrum Downs

Rode the Honda down to Port Melbourne to visit Marcus Ronalds who has taken a 12 month break from work and will be heading of on an adventure laden overseas trip in mid-April. We visited the BMW motorbike shop  in Southbank so Marcus could check out adventure bikes - he is also planning a ride around Australia on his return from OS. Tried a 2011 BMW F650GS on for size and found surprisingly that I'm tall enough to ride it. This particular bike was a dealer demo with 1700 km on the clock and fitted with every accessory available including ABS, mag wheels, hard luggage, tyre pressure monitor etc. All this at many $thousands below normal price - hmmm.. food for thought. Marcus opened a keg of Heineken and we had curries delivered - couldn't really drive after getting stuck into a keg. During the evening I checked prices of other second hand F650GS's which confirmed what a bargain was sitting on the show room floor so, next morning I dropped in and made an offer which was lower again and they accepted. The next item on the agenda was a drive to Carrum Downs to meet with one of our financial advisers for our usual 12 month review. Very pleased to find that our portfolio had not been trashed in the last 12 months and had even made a modest gain. Time to concentrate on driving home in beautiful weather - blue skies, no wind and mild temperatures. Got home just after lunch - quite a busy couple days.

Total Distance 390 km.

25 March - Farmworld and Korumburra

Since returning from SA, very few days have been encouraging for an outing on the bike. Today was overcast but no sign of rain on the radar so Zane (KLX250) and I (Honda) rode to Farm World at Lardner Park. This is a huge exhibition featuring everything under the sun. While there is a lot of farm machinery and livestock, there is also a lot of outdoor gear, motorcycles and all sorts of interesting odds and ends. This year was the best so far and seemed to be very well attended. After Farmworld, Zane and I rode to Korumburra for coffee and goodies at Bakery which was good as always. Then home through Leongatha, Mirboo Nth, Boolarra and Churchill and not a drop of rain all day.

Total Distance 215km.

2 March - Away on caravan holiday!

For those who follow my motorcycle ramblings, I'm taking a two week break with Rosa and the caravan. Our plan is to travel to Adelaide via the Great Ocean Road and the coast. From there we plan to spend time in Mildura and return home via central Victoria.

You can follow our progress on www.theoandrosa.blogspot.com.au

24 February - Loch and Philip Island

A cool and overcast morning, but the bureau had forecast clearing fog and a hot sunny day. Rode off on the Honda this morning at about 10:00 towards Mirboo Nth, Leongatha and Korrmumburra with the intention of having lunch in the little village of Loch. This is a tiny historic town on the South Gippsland Highway renowned for its antique shops, cafes and restaurants. Could have picked from a number of attractive cafes but the one that caught my eye was called "La Rosa" - how could I go wrong.

Had a terrific lunch and a great coffee and a nice chat with some of the locals. Continued on my way to San Remo and Philip Island and realised something was up - there were motorbikes everywhere - it wasn't until I approached San Remo that I saw the signs advertising this weekend's Superbike races that I realised what all the bikes were doing there. Stopped off at Biker's Gear in Cowes and bought a terrific pair of leather riding boots at a bargain price. The return trip was through Wonthaggi, Cape Patterson, Inverloch, Leongatha and Korrumburra where I took a coffee break at the "Bullock Dray" cafe - a favourite. Got home at 4:30 pm after a fantastic day out.

Total Distance 365 km.